( February 16, 2024, 1:57 PM EST) -- COLUMBUS, Ohio — Hydraulic fracturing companies and leaseholders who sued them in a royalty dispute filed competing trial briefs in Ohio federal court on Feb. 15. The defendant companies argue that the phrase “commonly known as the Utica Shale” includes the rock unit into which they drilled and, therefore, they did not act unlawfully or unjustly. The leaseholders say the lease language reveals that the defendants did not have the right to drill in the Point Pleasant Formation or any other formations that lie below the base of the Utica Shale....